Education Department warns excessive coaching for selective schools entry test could ‘harm’ kids

Parents are being warned that paying tutors to coach their child for entry exams to WA’s sought-after selective public schools is unnecessary and could “harm a student’s wellbeing”. In a significant expansion on previous Education Department advice, new guidelines on applying for the Academic Selective Entrance Test — which children sit in Year 6 — caution that “coaching or tutoring for the placement test is not necessary”. “There is no credible research that shows coaching helps a child gain entry,” the guidelines say. “The test will not need your child to know any new or special knowledge. Therefore, extra paid coaching outside of school will not give your child an advantage. “In fact, too much coaching can harm a student’s well-being and create unrealistic expectations. “A child who is coached and gains entry, is likely to have been placed without being coached. Also, many students who receive coaching still do not get offered a place.” Competition for gifted and talented programs at WA selective schools is so fierce that more than 5200 students applied for 1254 Year 7 places in 24 schools — including 225 spots at Perth Modern School — for next year. Some parents sign their kids up as young as eight for test coaching courses costing hundreds of dollars with tutoring providers that boast about their success getting students into top schools. Last year’s guidelines simply said the entry test did not assess a child’s acquired knowledge and was “largely preparation-neutral”, while noting the department did not endorse any form of professional coaching or tutoring services. The department’s strategy and policy executive director Raechelle Lee said communications were updated each year. “The updated wording about formal coaching aligns with the Selective Entry Guidelines in NSW,” she said. Riot police had to be called to manage chaotic crowds at NSW selective school tests in May this year. The WA guidelines also expanded advice on what to expect in the test, including a warning that students who veered off-topic in the creative writing section would be “heavily penalised” and could receive a score of zero. It comes after The West revealed in July that many students were scored zero for writing in this year’s tests for the first time as part of a crackdown on pre-prepared or off-topic responses. The harsh outcome prompted pleas from distressed parents for their child’s marks to be reconsidered. “The child’s response must be clearly and authentically built from the prompt they receive on the day of the test,” the updated document said. “It should not appear to be inserted into an otherwise unrelated work just to ‘meet the brief’.” Ms Lee said the department had always advised writing must be based on the prompt provided on the day. “The expanded detail aims to reduce off-topic responses,” she said.